How to throw the ultimate Shrek Party (step-by-step guide)

If you have ever wanted to throw a Shrek party or plan the perfect Far Far Away bash, you’re in the right place! See below for your step-by-step guide to throwing a Shrek Party that will make Lord Farquaad jealous! It has always been a dream of mine to throw a Shrek Party. I watch Shrek at least twice a week, so to say I am a fan is probably minimizing my fascination with the franchise. After much deliberation, I decided it was the year to make the party happen. With a little brainstorming, the party came together easily and better than I could have imagined! Keep reading to see how my Shrek party turned out & to get some ideas for your own✨

Step 1: Shrek party Mood Board📸

Before any buying and decorating could happen, I needed to come up with a design concept for each element of the party. From the table decor, to the food layout, to indoor and outdoor decorations…I needed a plan. So, off to Pinterest I went! I highly recommend creating a mood board for any get-together or party you are planning; not only does it serve as a brain dump to put all of your ideas in one place, but you’re able to make sure your party is cohesive across the board.

I wanted to have elements from Far Far Away, Shrek’s Swamp, and Dragon’s Castle. See below for the mood board I created to combine all of those elements⤵️

Step 2: Shop For shrek party Decorations🪩

I needed to transform my little house on a budget and FAST! So, I hit amazon and dollar tree for most of my decor needs. There were 3 parts to the theme that I needed decor for: Far Far Away, Shrek’s Swamp, and Dragon’s Castle.

For Far Far Away, I wanted it to be colorful with a hint of whimsy. I kept it simple with colorful paper chains, streamers, and star banners. This was easy to work on in the days leading up to the party and added a “WOW” factor when people walked in (it was also really cool to sit under to watch the movies while they were playing). I also had letters cut out that said “FAR FAR AWAY” to put in the front yard, but didn’t end up putting them out the day of because it rained leading up to the party.

For Shrek’s Swamp, I had a wall and a table I was working with. I knew I wanted to create a table scape with the colors from the swamp and Shrek’s house, so I pushed my antique dining table up against a wall, painted a banner, hung some foil curtains, added more colorful streamers and stars and called it a day! It sounds like a lot, but truthfully, it took me less than 30 minutes to put together (minus painting the banner). I had a lot of it already in my hosting closet, so I worked with what I had.

For Dragon’s Castle, I went the simple route and made that the theme of the table we set up for guests to eat or sit at if they wanted to. I got a black table cloth from Dollar Tree, layered a maroon table runner on top, added some candles that I already had, placed some onions throughout the table, and added some greenery. It was simple, but perfect!

Want to see the exact products I used to create these spaces? Click below⤵️

Step 3: Choose Your Costume🐦‍⬛

This one was an easy decision. I have always wanted to dress up as Lord Farquaad, so I knew this was the moment to do so. My husband was Donkey, but we went back and forth with him being Theloneous, and we told everyone else to dress up as a character if they wanted to! It was so fun seeing everyone dress up, especially since the part fell on Halloween weekend- talk about perfect timing! See below for some costume inspo💚

Step 4: Plan shrek-themed Food + Drinks🥂

Another fun way to elevate your party is having food, desserts, and drinks that fit the theme! I wanted to incorporate as much food as I could from the movie, or get as close to it as I could. Here’s what was on my menu:

  • Donkey’s Chicken & Waffles: Chicken nuggets, frozen waffles, and syrup in pipettes
  • Mini Man-wiches: Dinner rolls with Sandwich Meat and Cheese
  • Shrek’s Earwax: Hummus and Naan
  • 3 Little Pigs & Their Blankets: Butter Biscuits and Mini Beef Sausage Links
  • Weed Rats: Dino Nuggets
  • Everything Seasoned Bread w/Butter
  • Fruit & Veggies
  • Mozzarella Sticks
  • Pizza Rolls
  • Swamp Cups: Chocolate Pudding Cups w/Crushed Oreos and Gummy Worms
  • Green Heart Cake: I ordered a custom heart cake from Walmart in Lime Green (they have the BEST whipped icing)
  • Walmart Bakery Items: cookies, brownie bites, and donuts

I covered our kitchen island, gave the food their own places, labeled each item and VOILA! Dinner is served! Here’s what I used to cover our island AND the base for the banner:

For drinks, I ordered drink buckets and added a green bow. If my printer was working, I would have added a custom sticker, but sadly it is out of commission right now. Our drink menu consisted of:

  • Love Potion: Blue Gatorade
  • Swamp Water: Sweet Tea
  • Shrektini’s: Lemonade

All drinks had the option of being mixed with Malibu or Vodka🥂

Step 5: Send shrek-inspired Invitations💌

Dare I say it…you need to send formal invites to your guests. They don’t have to be sent in the mail, but a cutie little invitation elevates your guests party experience even more! It took me 30 minutes to make my invitation with Canva, I spent another few minutes texting it out, and then this step was done. 10/10 recommend!

Check out the invite I created below⤵️

Step 6: Decorate your party space💚

The official countdown to party day is on and it’s time to decorate! I have a lot of favorite parts of the party planning process, but this is my #1. There is nothing like seeing your visions come to life. My advice for this step is be flexible and don’t hesitate to get creative if it’s not turning out how you want. I had a vision in mind for my Far Far Away area and it didn’t turn out anything like I wanted, but I had to go with it and you know what…it all turned out fine! Looking back, I would move the foil curtain up to the ceiling, I would add balloons to cover the bottom of the wall, and move the chairs so people could take pictures in front of it…but its not the end of the world that its not perfect, and honestly no one cared that it looked a little odd. Do what you can, control what you can, and always decorate what you can…no stress allowed💚 Will this go down as one of my biggest fails? You bet! But now we can all laugh at it…and I’ll do better next time😉

See my Far Far Away FAIL ⤵️

Step 7: Enjoy The Party🎉

Don’t forget to enjoy the party with your guests! As the host, most of your job is tending to whatever your guests need, but there will be down time to where you can soak in all of your hard work. Leave the stress at the door and enjoy what you have created- you deserve it, too💚

✨BONUS IDEA✨

I ordered a blow up projector screen and projector to show the movies outside, just in case our guests wanted to sit and watch for a while. Sadly, it rained the day of the party so we didn’t get to set it up, but I LOVE the thought of having this as an option for parties, as it’s an easy set up and once you buy it you don’t have to invest again. WIN-WIN!

Want more Shrek Party Decoration and Food Ideas? Check out my Shrek Party Pinterest Board here!